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Arroyo Seco Bear shuts down 210, avoids capture, reappears on Twitter

The bear that scurried through Pasadena Thursday is not the first to have been seen in the area. Meatball the bear (above) grew his own fan base (and Twitter account) after venturing into Glendale several times. Image via Facebook.com/lionstigersandbears

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A black bear ventured into Pasadena Thursday afternoon and caused a commotion when it was reported near Cleveland Elementary, but it ended up making its way back into the Angeles National Forest, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan told KPCC Thursday that animals tend to relax once helicopters leave the area, and that often, as soon as it gets quiet and dark, they'll go back to their natural habitat. That appears to be what happened here.

The legend of the bear lives on, though — someone took to Twitter Friday to create an account for the bear, Arroyo Seco Bear, tweeting at @BearSeco. He quickly took some bear-related shots at notable personalities as he tried pawing his way up the social media charts, including (the character of) Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert.

This new bear has a way to go to catch up with the social media impact of previous bear superstar Meatball, who made his way down into Glendale. Meatball has 8,570 bears at the moment; our Arroyo friend has 45.